ARTICLES ABOUT DEFENCE INDUSTRY BY DATE - PAGE 3

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has demanded setting up of defence equipment manufacturing industry in the state. Singh met Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in New Delhi yesterday and demanded that under the Central government's ambitious 'Make in India' campaign, industries related to manufacturing of defence equipments should be set up in Chhattisgarh, an official statement said today. During the meeting, the Chief Minister said that the availability of steel, aluminium and other mineral resources in Chhattisgarh along with round-the-clock power supply and good industrial environment are conducive for setting up of defence manufacturing units in the state.

NEW DELHI: The government is open to reviewing all cases of blacklisted defence firms on merit and has partially lifted a ban on Tatra trucks as it prepares a new policy that will allow foreign defence firms to legally hire agents, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said. The new Defence Procurement Policy (DPP), that will lay thrust on development of domestic defence industry and faster acquisition process, will be issued in another month and a half. Asked about the new government's policy on blacklisted firms, Parrikar said, the "debarment principle" is also being worked out and pointed out the basic principle is in the interest of the armed forces.

NEW DELHI: Enhancing manufacturing, improving infrastructure and encouraging defence production figure among government's biggest priorities so that growth gets a boost and more jobs are created. Listing challenges and priorities of their departments, Secretaries of Commerce, Labour, Industry and Defence Production said government has taken several steps to boost economic growth and are in the process of taking several more measures. "My main challenge today is to see how defence production is transformed in a such a manner that private sector has a major role to play and we have a vibrant defence industry in place especially that is led by the private sector.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's indigenous defence production has reached $1.5 billion per annum with the country achieving self-sufficiency in several areas, according to a prominent defence weekly. "We have substituted imported defence equipment worth $1.5 bn (per year), which for us is a huge bonus," Jane's Defence Weekly quoted an unnamed Pakistani official as saying. Of the $1.5 billion defence hardware produced locally, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra, which manufactures JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, Mushak and Super Mushak aircraft, produced equipment worth a billion dollar last year.

NEW DELHI: India and the United States will discuss defence technology transfer and joint defence production in Delhi from Monday, in the first major political-military dialogue in the run-up to US President Barack Obama's visit to India as chief guest at Republic Day next month. Hoping to give a boost to Modi's call to global manufacturers to 'Make in India', the two sides will explore the possibility of joint defence production in critical areas like missiles after the government allowed 49% FDI in this strategic sector.

BEIJING: In an "unprecedented move" China has opened its arms industry to private sector to optimise its hefty $132 billion defence budget and modernise the army. The People's Liberation Army , (PLA) is inviting private enterprises to bid on its training-related contracts, a move to optimise the military budget, official media reported today. The PLA General Staff Headquarters recently published 108 military items for "advanced training technologies and equipment", encouraging private companies to take part in their research, development and manufacturing.

NEW DELHI: India has directly paid over Rs one lakh crore to foreign firms for acquisition of equipment for the armed forces during the last five years, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said today. The government, he said, constantly reviews the security scenario and accordingly decides to induct appropriate defence equipment. This is a continuous process undertaken through procurement from various indigenous as well as foreign vendors to keep the armed forces in a state of readiness, he said, adding that procurement from indigenous vendors accounts for a significant share in capital acquisition.

Deba R Mohanty The Indian defence sector has been witness to epochal events in recent times. Consider this: defence purchases worth Rs 1,20,000 crore have been approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in less than five months. Of this, Rs 70,000 crore has been earmarked for two indigenous projects — military transport aircraft (to replace the Indian Air Force's ageing fleet of Avro cargo planes) worth Rs 20,000 crore and six submarines (as part of the Indian Navy's ambitious submarine project P75-I)

SINGAPORE: Singapore and India should consider exploring the untapped potential of cooperation in naval ship building, an expert from an Indian naval think-tank said here today. There are excellent opportunities for the two countries to jointly build warships in India, given Singapore's technological and design expertise and the low production costs in India, particularly in terms of labour and raw-material, said Captain Gurpreet S Khurana , who is the Executive Director of the National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi . "India has lately offered several incentives to foreign firms to undertake joint-research and co-development of defence hardware," he said.

NEW DELHI: France may pip its NATO ally USA by entering into joint production and co-development with India for a key defence equipment -- short range air defence missiles -- through transfer of know-how and technology, in what could boost the Modi government's goal to attain self-sufficiency in military matters. While the proposal to jointly develop this system was initiated during the Congress-ruled UPA regime it did not see light of the day under them. Sensing that the Modi government has made joint production and co-development of defence equipment with foreign partners as its mantra from the initial days, France has tried to seize the opportunity by moving Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on the issue.